Entrepreneurial Communities

November 27, 2018

My favorite kind of writing is showcasing entrepreneurs who are doing big and positive things.

This month I attended a wonderful 3-day Mindset Retreat for entrepreneurs with a company named Boldheart whose lead couple is Fabienne and Derek Frederickson.

It was in downtown Atlanta and attended by about 400 of us for three 12-hour days. I learned so much about myself, my business, and met some new friends from three countries and from right down the road.

While I was immersed in their great content, I found write-ups in Forbes, Inc., etc. about this fast-growing firm.

Boldheart LLC's specialties are helping solo entrepreneurs get to a consistent $10k per month in a year (the Growth track), and then helping them get to $100k per month a year or two later (the Leverage track).

The culture of the company demonstrates the art of balancing work with family life and earning enough money to enjoy life and support important causes.

The secret ingredients in Boldheart's approach are 1) a focus on the heart for the understandings and passions that make us think bigger, and 2) a focused, disciplined structure and community that supports bold action. It has Business and Self tracks.

I encourage anyone to attend a free webinar and explore Boldheart for yourself or a friend. https://bit.ly/2rBPfIu

October 12, 2018

Over the past few months I have looked more closely at the ecosystem for growth firms in rural North Carolina, and I prepared a white paper for NC IDEA. Based on the strength of our sectoral institutions and regional organizations I suggest some targeted outreach to entrepreneurs within manufacturing and agriculture which are well supported by many leaders in this state. Most rural economic developers are not focused on growth-oriented small businesses but they can help identify them.

May 19, 2018

Since receiving its certification, Holly Springs NC has only gained momentum. The town's Economic Development Department, the Co-Working Station, Wake Tech and the entrepreneurs continue to develop 1) a town-oriented website that is marketed as a way-finding resource; and 2) a series of events and planning new development oriented toward those who want to live, work and play downtown. The leadership of the local entrepreneurs has made certain the CEC was a great starting point to an ongoing initiative. To learn more about Holly Springs CEC:

Since receiving its certification, Amherst County, Virginia is talking about how to make local government and state resource partners more business-friendly.

The economic development office hosts the web portal for finding business resources. Business owners are hosting a networking event a few times per year in different parts of the county. The high school continues to involve middle and high school students in marketing and other ways. The partnerships established in Year 1 were essential for the effort to evolve. To learn more about Amherst County's CEC:

May 17, 2017

Holly Springs and Amherst County are on their way to becoming Certified Entrepreneurial Communities®

What do Amherst County and Holly Springs have in common? At least three things:

Holly Springs, NC and Amherst County, VA both started the Certified Entrepreneurial Community® program in the fall of 2016.

They are both fast becoming more entrepreneurial communities as they join their entrepreneurs with local economic developers to create places well suited to business survival and growth.

Both communities have passionate entrepreneurs whose business investment was local for a reason. They are now giving their leadership and time to the Certified Entrepreneurial Community® (CEC®) process to help make the place better for many other business owners and startups alongside and behind them.

Holly Springs, NC is on the shoulder of the fast-growing Research Triangle Park. It has 35,000 people and a median household income of $91,470. Many young professional families are choosing to live in Holly Springs. The town had a total of 2,307 businesses as of 2012 (Census). The population has grown 7% since then. Holly Springs will be the first town since Black Mountain, NC in (2010) to become a Certified Entrepreneurial Community®.

Amherst County, VA is in the Commonwealth of Virginia, between Lynchburg and Charlottesville along the scenic 4-lane U.S. Highway 29. Amherst County’s population is 32,000. Median household income is $47,558. Amherst County is home to Sweet Briar College and a midpoint between two larger college towns. It already had a brewery, mountain scenery, and a business-friendly county going into the CEC® process. The county has approximately 1,050 business establishments; 82% have 1-9 employees, and 71% are headquartered in Amherst County. The county economic development authority has also been successful in recruiting larger industry.

A fourth asset Holly Springs and Amherst County have in common is an economic development organization with staff time devoted to entrepreneurship and small business development. Their economic developers are excited about the trust and transparency that is developing through the CEC® process with local business owners as they discuss their challenges and what they want from the community.

The emphasis of CEC® is collaborative action. So it’s right to ask what the two communities are doing to become more entrepreneurial. Here’s a quick update:

Holly Springs, NC:

Two entrepreneurs stepped up at the first retreat to lead the local initiatives in partnership with the town and other entrepreneurs. The first initiative is focused on Village District Business Development and building a place that suits firms and their employees who want to live, work, and play in a downtown community environment. The CEC® team is also supporting existing events such as the farmers’ market and a half-marathon that bring excitement and local people downtown. Results they seek are more people coming to the village district outside of work, visibility, and cross-promotion of downtown business, and ultimately retaining, attracting and growing more local firms. To inform longer term planning, a few of the entrepreneurs will partner with the town on physical development and infrastructure planning for the village district and town.

Entrepreneurs in Holly Springs are also leading an entrepreneur support initiative that includes a few elements. They are partnering with resource agencies in the Triangle region – for small business, workforce and economic development – to create a business resource flow diagram that answers the pressing questions entrepreneurs have at various stages of business development and directs people to what is in Holly Springs and nearby. The collaborative partners will also hold Lunch and Learn events for businesses and hold Village District Roundtable meetings with business owners for the exchange of information and to provide forums for ongoing innovation. The team will plan to have a business resource booth at the half-marathon in November.

Amherst County, VA:

As in Holly Springs, a couple of the local entrepreneurs in Amherst County stepped up at the first retreat. They have been organizing an inclusive entrepreneur-hosted meetup series ever since. They held the first event with a farrier turned brewery owner telling his story (Feb. 8) and had a second event in a different town on April 26th. The team created an organizing name and logo with the acronym LINK: Learn / Inform / Network / Knowledge. Amherst County High School is a full partner in building the LINK. Amherst County culinary students prepared the food for the first entrepreneur meet-up in February and entrepreneurship and technology students made and distributed posters.

Meanwhile the resource partners in the region – economic development, merchants’ association, community college, Sweet Briar College, chamber, SBDC, community bank, etc. — are self-organizing to coordinate their offerings and one output is a matrix of the priority resources for business startups and small businesses. They will update the links and contact info, post the directory on the Amherst County economic development website, each creates links to it, and promotes it through LINK. Each of the lead organizations will take responsibility for getting business owners and startups to the more specialized resources.

Stay tuned for more great outcomes as these two CEC®s finish up the first six months of working the action plans they created. Please let us know if your community has national best practices in their focus areas.